More than 187,000 migrants heading to the United States have arrived in Panama this year following crossing the dangerous jungle border with Colombia, most of them Venezuelans, reported the authorities of the Central American country, who are calling for “regional alternatives” to manage this phenomenon.
The Panamanian Minister of Public securityJuan Pino, stated in a statement that so far this year “187,644 migrants have passed through Panama” in transit to North America.
Only “so far in October, 36,062 have passed, mostly from Venezuela,” added Pino, as part of a tour this weekend through the Darién jungle, the dangerous 266-kilometer journey that these travelers make. to enter Central America from the south.
More than 9,000 migrants are in the migratory reception camps that the Panamanian State has in the province of Darién, said the director of the National Migration Service (SNM), Samira Gozaine.
Panama receives irregular travelers at migratory reception stations (ERM) located on the border with Colombia and Costa Rica, where they take their biometric data and receive food and medical care, in a unique operation on the continent that consumes millions of dollars per year.
They are entire families, with children and even babies, on the move. Many of the Venezuelans and Haitians come from second or third countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile or Brazil, where they had already tried to settle.
The head of Public Security, Juan Manuel Pino, indicated that crimes once morest migrants have decreased, following security was reinforced with more units from the @senafrontpanama in the Darién border area. #Safe Migration???????? pic.twitter.com/ygx5ogrGvD
— Ministry of Public Security of Panama (@MinSegPma) October 15, 2022
Venezuelans before the immigration policy of the United States
But there are already testimonies that Venezuelan citizens began to return to South America following the recent announcement by the United States Government that they will be expelled from that territory for having traveled irregularly.
“They went back, we were in the jungle when the people were already beginning (to go back), quite a few, too many. Just from Necoclí (Colombia) quite a few were returned, there were 500 tickets (and) there were only 20 left,” an unidentified migrant told Minister Pino, according to a video posted on the social networks of this ministry.
Venezuelan migrants say that following the announcement by the United States, many of their compatriots have returned and others have continued the journey in the hope of being welcomed. pic.twitter.com/1ZtXuulw5E
— Ministry of Public Security of Panama (@MinSegPma) October 15, 2022
As part of the security tour through Darién, Pino traveled to the Cañas Blancas area on Saturday, located regarding two kilometers from the border with Colombia, an official statement said.
“Many migrants have decided to return from Colombia and some from the border sector of Panama because of the message from the United States,” said the minister.
The United States announced on Wednesday a program that gives legal status for two years to Venezuelans who arrive by plane and have a sponsor.
Initially, 24,000 Venezuelans will be accepted under this program, which excludes those deported from the United States in the last five years, those who have entered Panama or Mexico irregularly, or those who have a permanent residence or nationality of another country. that is not Venezuela.
Other migrants who spoke with the Panamanian authorities reaffirmed their willingness to continue the journey to North America: “I prefer to stay ahead than go back,” said one of them.
Pino said that Panama promotes the search for “regional alternatives to deal with this (migratory) phenomenon that we are facing in the Western Hemisphere.”
